Which background do you prefer?

Images taken in a controlled environment or with a posed subject. All subject types.

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Davids
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Which background do you prefer?

Post by Davids »

One of my favorite subjects - Drosera scorpioides. Pardon the difference in magnification. Does anyone prefer one background over the other? I tend to use black, but the white can be quite striking:

Image


Image

g4lab
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Post by g4lab »

imo for this specimen the white works better because it lighs up the droplets.

leonardturner
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Post by leonardturner »

Spectacular subject, beautifully photographed in either presentation. I like the black, but it's close.

Lou Jost
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Post by Lou Jost »

I think I like the white because so many macro shots have black backgrounds.

Beatsy
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Post by Beatsy »

In general I prefer black for macro (when "blurred natural environment" is unavailable), but for this subject I think white works better.

Lou Jost
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Post by Lou Jost »

By the way, how do you keep these Drosera still enough to stack? Don't those hairs move a bit, particularly the curved ones?

Davids
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Post by Davids »

As long as the glands aren't physically disturbed they should remain still enough for stacking. I have found that, in some cases, a detached leaf may move it's glands without physical stimulus. This is most likely due to turgor loss.

JH
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Post by JH »

I have looked at them several times, both of the pictures are wery good, if I have to choose I say the white background.
Regards Jörgen Hellberg
Jörgen Hellberg, my webbsite www.hellberg.photo

doveoflight
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Post by doveoflight »

I do like the White background, as the stem's detail just sets better with my eyes.

JohnKoerner
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Post by JohnKoerner »

The white, although it almost makes the sundew look like a cgi graphic.

MarkSturtevant
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Post by MarkSturtevant »

White. But you can try other colors that 'go' with the colors in this plant.
Mark Sturtevant
Dept. of Still Waters

elf
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Post by elf »

What technique did you use to switch backgrounds?

Davids
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Post by Davids »

Elf, it really was just a simple switch of backgrounds. The black is a piece of cardboard covered in flocking, making sure that it was far away from the subject and all light was on the leaf.

The white background was an experiment. I just had a couple layers of diffusion film that I light with one light and used another to light the subject.

I've been enjoying white backgrounds so much lately that I've considered purchasing a light pad. Rosco offers one, but it's quite expensive.

MarkSturtevant
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Post by MarkSturtevant »

I wonder if one could put a subject in front of a computer monitor that displays whatever background you choose. If that is well out of focus, one should not be able to see the pixels.
Mark Sturtevant
Dept. of Still Waters

ChrisR
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Post by ChrisR »

That's what I assumed had been done!
You could put a pol sheet against it and rotate to adjust the brightness. Or put an image with a black center on your screen, for "darkfield".
Chris R

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